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Show Hulse Reveals Record Sales for Ferguson Tractors, Implements Dee R. Hulse, president of the General Service company of 658 North Main street, Ferguson dealer for this area, announced today that the Ferguson company com-pany recorded a new high in sales for the first three months of 1952. Total sales for the first quarter amounted to $22,145,000, an increase of 32 per cent over the corresponding period for 1951. "These sales figures are remarkable re-markable -because only four years ago, following the break with the Ford Motor company, it was generally believed that the Ferguson company was finished," fin-ished," Mr. Hulse said. "When Harry Ferguson, inventor of the Ferguson System and Harry Ferguson, Fer-guson, Inc., of Detroit brought suit against Ford, Dearborne Motors Mo-tors and other, to recover damages dam-ages for infringed patents, most people were pretty skeptical because be-cause Ford had never lost a major ma-jor patent action. Our victory in the final judgment put an end for good and all those rumors that the Ferguson company was abqut to fold up. We're in better shape than ever before, and the future looks wonderful." The Ferguson company was awarded $9,250,000 from Ford and Dearborne under the terms of a consent judgment signed by Federal Judge Gregory F. Noo-nan Noo-nan on April 9 of this year. The amount, largest ever granted to a plaintiff in a patent action, covered royalties on patents infringed in-fringed as far back as July 1, 1947. The judgment also ordered the Ford company to cease manufacture man-ufacture of its 8N tractor as presently pres-ently constructed by Dec. 31. Mr. Hulse said the record sales for the first three months of 1952 show a significant increase over 1951 which was Ferguson's best year. The 1951 volume was 57 per cent higher than the figure fig-ure for 1950, and net income showed a gain of 37 per cent. "There have been many attempts at-tempts to minimize the importance import-ance of this Ferguson-Ford settlement," set-tlement," Mr. Hulse said, "but it's pretty hard to minimize $9,-250,000. $9,-250,000. The end of the litigation also leaves us free to get 'about the business of giving better service ser-vice to farmers without a lot of confusing claims about the merits mer-its of one tractor as compared to another. After this year, only the Ferguson tractor will have the genuine Ferguson System the others have to be different." |